Hellride

Hellride is a side project live band featuring former Minutemen and FIREHOSE bassist Mike Watt, former Jane's Addiction and Porno For Pyros drummer Stephen Perkins, and former Porno For Pyros guitarist Peter DeStefano. The band, which is exclusively a live entity (although live recordings made by fans with Watt's and Perkins' blessing circulate), performs occasionally in Los Angeles-area clubs. Their entire set list is devoted to playing and reinterpeting the music of The Stooges by way of jazz legend John Coltrane. The band grew out of Watt and Perkins' more frequent collaborations in the jazz-punk improv group Banyan as well as Watt's brief stint as bassist with Porno for Pyros in 1996.

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On separate occasions, Watt did a Hellride performance on Halloween 2003 with The Secondmen drummer Jerry Trebotic substituting for Perkins, who was on a Jane's Addiction reunion tour at the time. He also performed in a "Hellride East" line-up in New York City in 2000 with Dinosaur Jr.'s J Mascis and Murph on guitar and drums respectively.

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Watt, almost ironically, has since gone on to replace deceased bassist Dave Alexander in the reformed Stooges with original members Iggy Pop, Ron Asheton, and Scott Asheton.

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Minutemen: Minutemen may mean:...

FIREHOSE: A firehose is a thick, high-pressure hose used to carry water or other fire retardant (such as foam) to a fire to extinguish it. Outdoors, it is attached either to a fire engine or a fire hydrant. Indoors, it can be permanently attached to a building's standpipe or plumbing system....

Mike Watt: Michael David Watt (b. December 20, 1957 in Portsmouth, Virginia) is a bass guitarist, singer and songwriter, probably best-known for co-founding punk rock bands The Minutemen and fIREHOSE; as of 2003, he is also the bassist for the reunited Iggy Pop & The Stooges. He is also a member of the art ro...